VrtshOrian Xininta. til i tB'll l olKlN, SiVIRLDAY, JANUARY 18, '1862. litstbflAion 'bf Dr. Jacobas.-1 1 / 4 his oc %burred, 'as appointed, on Tuesday evening. Rev. Dr, 1 - Rl4/ARD, in absence - of - Dr. Er, wont, *cached the sermon Mid delivered the Adige to 'the pastor; Rev. Mr. LEA de- Ilivered the Charge to the people. The %church was 'crowded, and a close attention was given to the exercises. The prospects .of the congregation are very fair. Bow , They .ho ; Things in Chicago.—The Wabash Avenue Methodist church in Chi cago, is One of the most elegant churches belonging to that denomination in this. 'countr,y. Like some other churches it:had a heavy debt resting upon it. nut on the fourth:Sabbath of last month, after a ser mon by 'tamp. SimpsoN, the Congregation in a few minutes wiped out the entire float ing debt, amounting to the sum of-$25,000 I !The moral to be drawn from this is, that 'there are but few churches so encumbered with debt as to, be unable to tree themselves 'by a united effort. Our European Correspondent, this week, almost excels himself. His remarks on the death of the Prince Consort, and relative to the Queen and the Royal family, are pa triotic, emotional, and evangelical. His no tice of the views and feelings of the Chris tian, middle classes of England, who depre cate a war with the United States, will be read with deep interest, and will tend to soothe the excited emotions of our people. The London Times, and other party politi cal journals, are no more the.people of Eng land, than the New-York Herald, Tribune, <iv., are;the people of the United States. There is an aristocracy in England which hates our Democratic institutions; and there is a radical party in this country which is equally hostile to the ruling class in England. But the substantial masses— the Christian people—of both countries, desire to live in love and peace. An Educational Power. We have long been persuaded that the eornmunity . in general have no adequate conception of the amount of valuable mat ter contained in the columns of a good re ligious paper. In every number there are articles, a thorough perusal of which will make any one more familiar with the sub ject of which they treat, than ninety-nine hundredths of the people he meets. As an educational power in the family, the re ligious newspaper should be made more of than it is. What if parents at the close of the Sabbath should just try the experi ment of questioning their children, to see how much they could recollect of hat the paper contains. A friend abundantly able to make such an estimate, has just handed us a calculation of the amount of reading in fifty-two numbers of the Christiawger aid. Here are the figures : " One vol • of your paper contains about 16 voluno of 400 pages each, such as sell at $1.25 a volume, or for all, s2o."— Christian Herald. THE 'WEEK OF TRITER. Meetings were held in all our churches and aTho in all the churches of the other branch of the Presbyterian Church, in , this city. and Allegheny. And we believe that such was the case in most of the Pres -byterian churches in the neighboring coun try. The attendance was measurably good, and a good degree of earnestness was mani fested. May, the Lord hear the prayers that went up to the Merey-seat and send down upon us and upon all his churches the, blessings of his grace. Surely this is a time to go to God—to plead with him—confessing our sins and implor ing his forgiveness. Let every Christian forsake sin, cleave unto the Lord, and en 'treat his favor. The, world needs, our country needs, and our own souls need, a time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. REVIVALS. It has not been our privilege to record many, revivals during the last year. The state of the country has been such that men's minds have been taken, up with some thing else, or rather many other things. And here probably the Church has been in error. Ministers and Christians supposed that there could be no revivals, and there fore neither labored nor. prayed for them. But' here and there God is rebuking our unbelief by pouring out his Spirit, reviv ing his people and converting sinners to himself. Let us not limit the grace of God any longer to time and'a condition of the world deemed favorable by us for the pro , grees a the work of the Lord. To the church of Hopewell, near Frank lin, la., forty have been added on profession of faith, mostly young persons, the children of pious parents. In the church of Pisgah, Lawrence , County, Ilk, forifylour have been within a short time hopefully con verted. These embrace all ages and both sexes, from ,the ,yeuth often or twelve to the aged of sixtynirie.. And it is reported that the Wabash church, : one of the oldest in that region, is enjoying a' time of re freshing such as it 'never had before. .'A preciona revival has been for some time in progress in the, Congregational chnrch, of Greenport, Long Island. Li the Mt.Holyeke Female Serainary, at South Hadley; Masa i as many as fifty Young ladies;have attended the meeting for inquiry, and thirty have , been hopefully con verted. The •spirit of MARY LYON ^ still lives in this school.' 'Her prayers are still being ansWered. And a work of grace promising, most blessed results is in pro gress , in. Portland, Me. The Rev. Mr. SuzLLING, % chaplain of the Tenth Legion of New-York State Volunteers, reports a powerful revival in that command in camp on the Potoninc., At Haroilfion Square, N. J., the Baptist church has lately re ceived' an addition 'of 'thirty-six on profes- Sion of faith. Thilii,we see that a feir nAerey-drops have beenNling in different places all over the Vrod is thereby showing his willing ness4s bless our Arderidan Zioe and to tiUlittep his Church even in' troublous times. Let us, not cease our.prayers forAtio, out : pouring of the Holy Spirit, withAherid of the week of special prayer. - Mitylliatprove to'hehrie the beginning ' of united; earnest And importunate prayer. i ' POWER OF SURROUNDINGINF4ENOES. In the last number of that able paper, The Episcopal Recorder, it is remarked that " there are certain kinds of earth which strike up their hues into the plants that grow from them, so that here the rich and dark olive of the leaf, there its emerald brilliancy, betoken the chemical properties from which they draw their nourishment." An illustration is then 'given in the recent history of the late Professors in the Epis copal Theological Seminary at Alexandria, Va. Until within the last year, this was the successful and cherished institution of the Low Church Episcopalians, not only of Virginia, but alsO of Pennsylvania and the other Middle States. Its type of theology was considered eminently orthodox, and its piety was of the most evangelical order. But, as is well known, the Seininary has been elosed for months and it is now in the occupancy of armed men. Professors and students are widely dispersed. But the course ot< these Professors, as well as of the neighboring Epiicopal clergY, has amazed their former friends in the North. They were all Northern men, having most of their relations in the'North, and were considered, up to about the" time they took the fatal leap, as being sound, loyal, and Union men. But every one of them, with the exception of the'Rev. Dr. MAY-- who has returned to Philadelphia, his na tive place—has thrown in his lot with the rebel Confederacy, over which JEFFERSON DAVIS presides. t Not only were these men., Northern by birth', but also by education; and some of them from long residence. The Rev. Dr. PAcKAnn was from Massa chusetts, and before going to Alexandria, was a Professor in Bristol College. Rev. Dr. SPARROW was also born in Massachu setts, and served Kenyon College, Ohio, with eminent success. Mr. DANA came from Vermont; Mr. NORTON from West,. ern New-York; Mr. LIPPITT from Massa chusetts. In our own Church are instances equally aid and equally humiliating, of men born, reared, honored, and loved in the North, who have forsaken their country, engaged in rending their Church, and are now seek ing to overthrow both. Just now we think of one born in Indiana, educated at Jeffer son College, studied Theology at Princeton, was a successful and beloved misionary for several years in China, was afterwards a laborious pastor in Illinois, and some three or four years ago removed to the Valley of Virginia. The Secession mania seized him, and he is now a Chaplain in the rebel army. The pastor of the Church where the Sec s ession General Assembly (or Con vention to institute an Assembly) met, in Augusta, Ga., is a native of Steubenville, also a graduate of Jefferson College, and was for several years pastor of the Old Chartiers church, where the Rev. Jon?? McMILLAN, D.D., " the Apostle of the West," preached the Gospel so long. He is a Secessionist con amore. His brother in-law is a native of Ohio, a graduate of the same college, is now a Professor in the Theological Seminary at Columbia, S. C., and disloyal both to his country and his Church. In our college days we knew a young man of respectable ability and at tainments, but notorious for his extravagant abolitionism. He went South to teach; married a lady possessed of a large planta tion and many slaves, and now looks upon slavery as about the best of the institutions with which this earth is blessed, whilst he regards the Government of the United States as about the meanest thing ever in stituted on earth. Another one, born in the British Provinces, came to one of our seminaries a few years ago, a most uncom promising abolitionist. He would make no terms whatever with slavery. After a time he went South, and became pastor of a church. In process of time he became a Chaplain in the rebel army; and at the battle of Bull Run, after the Colonel, Lieut. Colonel, and Major of his regiment had been either killed or disabled, he himself led the regiment again into battle. The two most violent Southern men in the last General Assembly were natives of the North—one from Carlisle in this State, and the other from near Athens, in the State of Ohio. And thus we might go on to de scribe any such men. But this is enough for our present purpose. This wholesale defection from Church and State, on the part of men from whom far better things were expected, most suggestive of important reflections. Men are suddenly seized with the prevailing feelings and thoughts around them, and hurried, as by some fearful mania, to the greatest extremes. Reason seems to be set aside, conscience perverted, and all Divine obligations forgotten. In this way, we may see some explanation of the wonderful suc cess of Mohammedanism when it had once fired the susceptible minds of the East. Nor should we any longer wonder at the rapid progress of Mormonism, Millerism, and Spiritualism, in our own days, with a certain class of minds in which all proper balance has been destroyed. How careful then should men be in the associations with which they surround themselves, and in the influences to which they allow themselves to be exposed. He that thinketh he standeth, had need to take care lest he fall. No one knows how strong or bow weak he is, until the assault has been made upon him. There are many now in arms against our Government; there are many ministers now preaching and praying for the success of rebellion, who a few months ago would have resented with the highest indignation the least suspi cion against their loyalty : any one of them would have said, with FIAZA.Efi ' , " Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing ?" In like manner many have adopted and propagated the most destructive errors, who, in the outset, denied most persistently that they were leaving the old paths. When the late Professor BUSH started out on his course, he had not the least idea of +being lost at last in the bogs of Sweden . borgianism. In the same ways many are gradually seduced from the truth. Their beliefs arid convictions are imperceptibly Undermined, until at last the whole strui=. tare of their faith . , gives way, and they. be- Dome like some noble dwelling pillaged and defaced by a ruthless soldiery. There.have been-such instances along the entire course of history_ there are many such now. Let us take warping from. their,sad ,examples. pREsByTElta -13ANNER.---,A.T,T;Ri,D*46Y,1 ~ T J 4 8 ,1862 . =I TURIN, GINA, LEGRPRVIONE. We shall give ,our; readers few more extracts from the private letters of our friend, in his Italian journeys. In Turin he witnessed 'the - interesting process of Wine-making. A large oblong wooden vessel= stood before a wine,: shop. In the vessel were a quantity of fine-lc4ioz,, grapes, and in the midst of these was " a very unprepossesSin- Uncleanly- Italian 4g, . tramping away , with all his might., His pants were rolled up as high as they would go, and his bare legs were spattered with the luscious liquid." Other processes fol lowed, about similarly eiciting to a delicate palate.' From Turin to Genoa he travelled by rail; distance four - and a half 'hours'. --He remarks : "'Genoa is well said to be built all up and doWn.' ''l''never saw such an uneven city. The streets also are. exceedingly irregular, not only' running up and down, in conformity with the ground's surface,. but also zigzag, eliptically, semi -circles, - and almost every other cOnceiVable ,way. And many of them are, no 'wider than alleys in American cities. There is, how ever, much architectural' beauty 'in Genoa; and no city, probably, in Italy, excels it in' the number and splendor of its palaces." • The Mediterranean is, in stormy weather, exceedingly rough—much more so than the Atlantic. But the tourists were, on this occasion, favored with a pleasant passage .0 Leghorn " The weather was settled. The sea was smooth. Overhead, all was clear and beau tiful. The moon Shone brightly. The stars twinkled charMingly in the clear Italian sky. There is a clearness,, bril liancy and richness in the Italian atmos phere, at this season of the year, which is quite unusual in Pennsylvania. At Leg horn I dined with Rev. Dr. STE WART, a kind, whole-souled, warm-hearted Scotch Presby terian, and I felt myself quite at home. In the 'evening I embarked, on a densely crowded steamer, for Civita Vecchia, and was so fortunate as to obtain the comfort of a mattress on which to'recline. This night also was calm and clear, and the voyage was delightful." It was Sabbath morning - when the steamer reached Civita Vecchia, and that place, the entrance to the Papal States, was the beginning of troubles. The vises of passports, and the examinations of baggage, and the securing of baggage by ropes, cords, leaden seals, &c., and the delays, and the runnings from officer to officer, make the impatient passenger wish heartily that the Pope's temporal power shall come to a speedy end. From Rome we read : " I am favorably situated at No. 46 via Gregoriana. This is one of the healthiest streets in the city, and is the principal resi dence -of the Americans and English. Miss ClusHiviArr, the celebrated American actress, is my next door neighbor, but I am satisfied that neither of us will be the bet ter or worse for our propinquity to each other. I was fortunate in getting a good room at $lO a month, incluing furniture and service. My meals I take at the res taurant. " It is refreshing to see so many English faces, and to hear so many English voices, as one sees and hears at this season in Rome. In the chapel, on Sabbath, I almost feel as if I were in England or America. I have made some pleasant acquaintances with both Americans and Englishmen, though with the •latter I am not just so fraternal as I would be had they not to so great an ex tent exhibited unkind feelings toward the United States. A few days ago I was ex ceedingly provoked by a conversation in the Reading Room, between -an English man and a gentleman ,from the South. They seemed to shake hands in their mu tual hostility to the North. The Southern er talked about the grievances inflicted on his section, without. leaving any possible ground for the supposition that the North might be really the aggrieved party. And then, still farther to enlist the sympathies of the Englishman, he expatiated on the free-trade views of the South, and the advan tages England would derive from the effec tual carrying out of these views; and then alluded to SEWARD'S letter, &c., &e. Be fore the talk was finished the Englishman had become worked up into a little tempest of rage. He talked quite boastingly of England's naval power, especially as con trasted with ours. hy,' said he, 'in twenty-four hours'we could sink every ves sel of the United States that floats on the water.' He had forgotten, just then, the sea-fights, and the losses of English ships, in the war of 1812. " I bad conceived no very favorable opin ion of the Rector of the Chapel, ho being a very High Churchman. Still, I took a sit ting under his ministry, it being the near est to evangelical, of, anything I could at tain. He, finding my name on the record, called to make my acquaintance. I was pleased. His call made quite an impres sion on my mind concerning the impor tance of pastoral visitation, and especially of a speedy and friendly call upon the stranger. He was unassuming, courteous, affable, and left me quite disposed to judge good naturedly of his Episcopal errors so much so that I almost forgot them all when, on the following Sabbath,. I heard him preach a very good sermon, on the text: 'By grace are ye saved, through faith.' `He is zealous, somewhat Lutheran in his views of the real presence, and much dis posed to multiply forms, and services, and especially on Saints' days. The' tendency of these things is dangerous. " For two dollars a month I enjoy the benefit of the English Circulating Libra. ry and Reading Room,;' where I find the leading journals of .ew-York, London, and Paris. The climate here is regarded as eminently suited to, persons having throat' or lung affections; but still, great care is needful." CIRCULATING THE BIBLE No Christian or philanthropist can view the means now ,in operation for spreading abroad the knowledge of the truth, through the distribution of the Word of. God, with out feelings of lively and thankful emotion. Formerly the Bible was a very rare book. Great labor and much time were required for the production of a single copy; and the cost was so much that many were unable to purchase. In nothing else has the art of printing been so beneficial. The Bible is now printed with the greatest rapidity, and in so many languages as to meet the wants of all the principal nations of the earth; while the expense is so small that the poorest . may' purchase, and the rich, make. large donations of .the Holy ,Seriptures every year. This blessed seed sown over the world will sooner or later spring Up ' nd bring forth much fruit. God's . • s-4, WordY will not return unto him void ; it will, prosper in the thing whereunto he has sent it. The Bible Societies of Europe, America, and Asia, sine their first organization in 1804, have issued over sixty-seven millions of copies of _the Word of God, in one hun dred and sixty languages, comprising one r, _.-~;~ hundred and rtlnety k yersions. O thesek there are one hundred arid forti transla.' tionS<never published before. NO . one can form any estimate of the millions upon millions issued from other sources. But when it is kept irk:mind that the Bible alwiys, has been, and is, the leading` book with the 'publisher and the bookseller, it is evident that the number must be enormous. Over'thity millicinre of dollars have been disbiu4ed: in this I W,:n.k by the two Bible Societies of England and the United States. A large amount; of this was paid for translations into other languages. To translate the'Bible,'or at least a part of it,' is always the first permanent work of the missionary. Nor-, can any, one form a proper estimate of the difficulties to be en countered' in such undertaking,, until he has made the attempt. Durmg,pe last eight months the Amer ican Bible: Society has 'issued 803,000 Bi bles and Testaments, being 321,000 more than the issues of the" sameperiod last year. The average is about 4,000 volumes each working day, or seven .volumes each working minute. This increase is owing to the great demand for the Scriptures to supply our vast army and navy. Over half a million of Bibles and Testaments have been sent in this direction since the commencement of the war. The receipts of the American Bible Society have been thus far $60,000 behind last year. The PennsYlvania Bible Society has di rectly or through its n*erous branches, given gratuitously 60;000 Testaments to our brave troops, this includes 20,000 sup plied by its auxiliary, the Philadelphia Bible Society, to those - going from that city. Let the prayers,of God's people go up for , his blessing upon this large distri bution of the Word of God. The frequency with which these words occur, and the great national importance belonging, just now, to the thing which they signify, may demand the prominence which we assign them when we place them at the head of an article. Habeas Corpus is the law title of a writ, of which there are several kinds. The one commonly indicated by present use, is the writ : Habeas corpus ad subjiciendum. It is issued to bring a person or party be fore a Court or judge, to' inquire into the cause of his imprisonment or detention. The object is to prevent any unjust or ille gal control over personal liberty. It was established in. England, by an act of Parlia ment during the reign of CHARLES IL, and has been adopted, with but little varia tion, in the United States. In the Constitution, there is provision made for its suspension. Article 1., Sec. 9 : 2, reads thus : "The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspend ed, unless when, in cases of rebellion, or invasion, the public safety may require it." This clearly authorizes the suspension, in the cases designated, but it does say by what authority. As the. President is the executive officer, under the Constitution, the inference would be obvious that he shall enforce this provision, and he has done so. There are some, however, who think that the power of suspension resides in Con gress. Congress has, thus fart'declined to act, and has acquiesced in the course Tut sued ,by the President. :The matter has never come before the Supreme Court. Judge TANSY has intimated that the Presi dent is in error. Other, judges sustain the President. The magnitude of the interests involved, is likely to call forth much discussion, both in Congress and by our jurists. HORACE BINNEY, of Philadelphia, has pub lished a pamphlet, in which he 'discusses the subject with great ability ; and of all the lawyers our country has produced, he is second to none, in legal acumen and sound judgment, unless it be to the late Chief Justice MAnsuALn. Mr. BINNEY exhibits many reasons for maintaining that the President alone, and not Congress, has the power of suspending the writ, and says : ' 4 From this, plain and natural view of the executive department, there is a most obvious and just deduction in regard to his power to suspend, or deny for a season, the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in time of rebellion. The course of justice is at such a time obstructed. Courts of jus tice execute their office imperfectly. In some instances they are closed, and their officers are put to flight. In some, their judges and officers are parties to the rebel lion, and take arms against their Govern ment. In other instances, the people, the jurors, the officers of Courts, are divided in their opinions, attachments, families, affinities.- Calmness, impartiality and com posure of mind, as well as unity of pur pose, have departed. It is not a season for the judicial trial of all persons who are im plicated in the rebellion. It cannot be while the rebellion lasts. To arrest and try even those who are openly guilty, and are taken with the red hand, would, in many places, be fruiticss e and only aggra vate the evil. The methods and devices of rebellion are infinite. They are open or covert, according to necessity or advantage. In arras, or as spies, emAsaries, correspon dents, commissaries, praveditoir of secret' stiplies, and aids, their name is sometimes legion—all treasonable, and many of them' disguised or lying hid. A part of this dis guise may sometimes be ; detected, and not often the whole. An intercepted letter, an over-heard conversation, a known proclivity, an unusual activity in unusual transactions, in munitions, or provisions, or clothing—a suspicious fragment and no more, without the present clue to detection, may appear— not enough for the scales of justice, but abundantly sufficient for the precaution of the guardian upon his watch. Such are the universal accompaniments of rebellion, and constitute a danger - frequently worse than open arms. To confront it at once, in the ordinary course of justice, is to insure its escape, and add to the danger. Yet he traitor in disguise may achieve his work of treason if he is permitted to go on; and if he is just passing from treason in purpose to treason in act, his arrest and imprison ment for a season may save both him and the country. "The obvious and just deductions from these observations is that the power of sus pending or denying for a season the privi lege "of thewrit of habeas corpus in time of rebellion, is a most reasonable attribu tion to the Executive power, such as the tonstitution of the United States has made it,'and so indispensable to that branch of the Government that, without it, the very arms of the Government might be, baffled,. and its worst enemies escape." The following statement, at the close, is a concentration of the argument : (‘ The conclusion of the whole matter is this: that the. Conetitutibn itself is the lat of the'privilege, and of, the "exception HABEAS .CORPFS. to it ; that the exception is expressed in the-Constitution, and that the Constitution gives‘effect to' the aee of - suspension when the conditions occur; that the conditions consist of two matters of fact, one a naked matter of fact, and the other a matter of fact conclusion from facts, that is to say, re bellion and the . public danger,or the re quirement of public safety. Vhich ever power of the constituted government can most properly decide these facts is master of the exception, and competent to apply it. Whether it be Congress or the President, the power can only be derived by"implica tion, as there is no express delegation of the power in the Constitution ; and it must be derived to that department whose func tions are the most appropriate to it. Con gress cannot executively suspend. All that a legislative body can do is to authorize Suspension by giving that effect to, an Ex eeutive act; and the Constitution having authorized that, there is no room for the exercise of legislative power. ,The Consti tution intended that, for the defence of the nation against rebellion and invasion, the power should always be kept open in either of these events, to be used by that depart ment which is the most competent in the same events to say what the public safety requires in this behalf. The President bc ing the properest and safest depository of the power, and being the only power which can exercise it under real and effective respon sibilities to the people, it is both Constitu tional and safe to argue that the Constitu tion has placed it with him." THE BIBLE WITHOUT NOTE OR COMMENT. The Bible Societies of England and the United States, early adopted the plan of circulating the Scriptures in the simple text; mid they - have Continued in that plan. They thus effect united action on the part of nearly all the Protestant Churches. Latterly a portion of the Bap tist Church has withdrawn, because - they dislike the transfer, as in the Common English Bible, of the word baptism. A few of the Episcopalians have objected, all along, to the plan of the Societies; insist ing that the Prayer Book of their Church must always accompany the Bible. The Episcopal Recorder well sets them off,- in a recent number. It says: "Those who object to sending out the Bible without comment, forget that still stronger objections exist to sending out the Prayer Book. If the Bible is capable, sometimes, of a double interpretation, the Prayer Book is 8,011 more so. Independ ently of the fact that the Gorham case ju dicially established the fact that a margin was to be allowed in which two very dis tinct views of the Sacraments find room, we have the notorious fact, that parties the most divergent have claimed the Prayer Book as their own. The authors of the Essays and Reviews,' for instance, main tain, as stoutly as does Dr. PUSEY, that they have the Prayer Book on their side ; and yet, we apprehend, neither the authors of the Essays and Reviews,' nor Dr. PUSEY, have it with them- And what document has ever received more various and hOstile . interpretations than the or dinal? " But this is not all. What, for in stance, can be more obnfnsinc , to an unin structed mind than the order of the ser vices? Bishop ROBART, we . have heard, once ordained a Methodist preacher, who, not having heard the service much read, found himself so much confused with the Q.'s,' as he called them, that he read the sentences and introductory portions straight through, and was just beginning with the second creed, - when the Bishop took the book out of his hand. And so utterly' un able is a non-Episcopal congregation to.fol low the service even with the minister's aid, that printed slips, as in Exeter Hall and in the New-York services bave to be scattered, giving the service straightfor ward. And even this sometimes fails. " Then as to doctrines. Now, the objec tors to a Bible :without comment may choose between.. the Biblical test, and the theological interpretation of it. If the former be declared unfit to circulate with out a comment, the same objection applies to the Prayer Book, which contains so large a portion of the original Scripture. If, however, it is doctrine which is declared to be unintelligible, then" the objection strrikes the Prayer Book the more closely, since the articles state doctrine in its se verest and most abstract shape. " Thus, if we admit the position that the Bible should take the Prayer • Book with it as a comment, it would be necessary, on the same reasoning, for the Prayer Book to take its comment. The world, in fact, would be overcome by an interminable se ries of comments; for, if the principle be once admitted, it can have no end. .Sup pose, for instance, that we take Bishop BROWNELL'S Commentary on the Prayer Book as our authorized exposition. Would it not be necessary to furnish another com mentary to tell what that excellent and venerable prelate meant? Take, for in stance, the definition he gives us of the word ' Church.' Now, there are three kinds of commentaries we can suppose on thia definition. The first would be, that Bishop BROWNELL took the High Church view The second would be that he took the Low-Church view. The third would be that his views require criticism to make them understood. In either case, there has to be a new commentary, and so on ad infinitum. We would have, therefore, the following retinue involved in Bible dissem ination on Church Principles:' Ist. The Bible. 2d. The Prayer Book. gd. Bishop BaowNELL. on the Prayer Book. 4th. An explanation of Bishop BROWN ELL. sth. An explanation of Bishop BRowN ELL's explainor, and so on ad infinitum." EASTERN SWYMMtY. BOSTON AND NEW ENGLAND. THE HON. CHARLES SUMNER, in his late European tour, obtained an undoubted auto graph of the great poet, Milton. It is his signature in the Album of a German schol ar, written during his continental journey. The Rev. Dr. ORvILLE DEWEY has closed his 'connexion with the Unitarian Church in Boston, which he has been serv ing for some time, and will retire to the coun try on account of his health. This Unita rian church, and several.othera of the same faith in this the home of modern Unitari anism, are in a very precarious state. Their very existence is threatened. They are not groWing, and their income is less every year. AINIONd the members of the Legislature of Massachusetts now in session is the Hon. Caleb Cushing, who first serVed in, a similar capacity as far back as 1825. • He is a man of great talent, wonderful versatil ity, and indefatigable industry. After the organization of, the Legislature, the mem-, hers of both Houses ' , aacompanied by the Governor and Staff, proceeded to the - Ohl South Church, and listened to the Election Serthon by Rev. William R. Alger. His text was Proverbs xiv ; . 84 "`Right eousness:exalteth a uattions , but sin is•a re proach to any people." 'Subject, Public Morals,:or the Tiue Glory of a State. ~,- Co, the celebrated manufacturer of fire arms, died a few days ago, at Hart ford, Cone., after a short but painful ill ness. The, establishment owned by him employs fifteen hundred men in the cou , struction of arms, at wages averaging two dollars: - per day; there, are several hundred more at, work upon, the buildiegs, which are now being duplicated, and _on other manufactures; which wouldbring the monthly payroll probably to ,more,than $BO,OOO. The Sharpe's Rifle Company work day and night, and pay out $20,000 , per month. The ,saddlery- establishment of Smith, Bourne & Co. employs five hundred hands, at .a `imonthly Coat of $15,000. Woodruff & Beach, engine , builders,, have three hundred: and fifty men at work, ivnese - monthly pay amounts to• $12,000 or $15,000. Jewell & Sons, belt makers; the Phcenix. Iron Works and the. Hartford Manufacturing Company also employ nu merous workmen. The above and other establishments in Hartford probably dis burse $150,000 monthly. At Chicopee, the Dwight Man - afacturing Company, the Ames Company, Emerson Gaylord, the Chicopee Manufacturing Company, the Arms Company, and other smaller chn cerns, pay an aggregate of $68,000 monthly to their artisaas. At Springfield.the na tional armory and private workshops dis burse from $BO,OOO to $lOO,OOO per month for labor. THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL' ANNIVERSARY of the Litchfield County. Fgeign Mission Society was duly celebratedon the 16th , of October, 1861, and a pamphlet has been printed, embodying the doings, and an his torical discourse by Rev. Mr. Parmelep. It appears that Connecticut has contributed to the A. B. C. F. M. in fifty-one years the handsome sum of 81,805,796, to say nothing of her sons and daughters, whose bones are now mouldering, wherever Foreign Mis sions have been established, from Turkey to the South Sea Islands. Hindostan, Ceylon, the Sandwich Islands; Africa with " its golden sands," and the remotest North American Indian tribes, can attest the la bors and sacrifices of devoted Litchfield County missionaries. TEEE LATE CHIEF JUSTICE WILLIAMS, of Connecticut, left large legacies to his relatives and bequests to public institu tions; among the latter were thelollowing To the American Tract Society, $5,000; to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and to American Home Missionary Society, $5,000 each,; to American Bible Society, $3,000; to Amer ican Education Society, $2,000; to Sabbath School Union, American Christian and Foreign Union, and the Colonization So ciety, $l,OOO each; to American Seamen's Society and American Temperance Union, $5OO each; to Hartford Female Beneficent Society, Hartford Orphan Asylum, Hartford Widows' Society, $l,OOO each ; to John C. Parsons, Trustee, sl,ooo—ssoo of which is to purchase books for Young's Men In stitute, and $5OO to the library at the Cen tre church. HEW-YORE MEssas.ll. G. DUNN & Co. haVe just published their annual circular, showing that the number of failures is much less than is generally supposed. The total number of failures in the Northern States during 1857 was 4,257, for $265,818,000; while in 1861 they were 5,965, but for only $178,632,170, showing a diminished liability of $87,185,880. In 1857 the greatest sufferers were the private banking, importing, and commission houses, while in 1861 the greatest losers were the jobbing houses. Our domestic troubles have come upon us when a healthy condition of trade had been attained, after the great sifting and. collapse of, 1857. Many of the failures in 1861 were also of houses who had been weakened in 1857. Messrs. Dann & Co. report the amount of Southern indebted ness to be to New-York, $150,800,000 ; to Philadelphia, $24,600,000; to Balti more, $19,000,000 ; to Boston, $7,000,000; Total, $200,000,000. The Western and Eastern States are self-sustaining, and the West especially is reaching a state of prosperity, from the de mand for its produce, which is unparalleled, notwithstanding the war. - SOME. IDEA of the vast amount of pro visions demanded by our armies, may, be be had from the following statement.of one of four equal instalments of subsistence stores to be delivered in New-York alone during the month of January 30,000 pounds of mess pork ; 252,000 pounds of bacon; 67,500 pounds of ham; 437,000 pounds of mess beef; 50,000 pounds of beef tongues; 300,000 pounds of pilot bread ; 1,838 bushels of beaus ; 1,838 bushels of split peas; 22,000 pounds of rice ; 190,000 pounds of coffee ; 9,000 pounds of tea; 36,000 pounds of sugar; 10,000 gallons of vinegar ; 30,000 pounds of candles; 96,000 pounds of soap; 2,188 bushels of salt; 10,000 gallons of molasses. THE BOARD OF EDUCATION of this city: has fixed the salaries of teachers at' $1,500 for the highest, and thence down to $4OO. The highest salary paid a female teacher is $7OO. The Hon. HENRY J. RAYMOND, editor of the Times, has been elected Speaker nf the House of Representatives at Albany. Mr. Raymond is a man of experience and capacity,, able to fulfil all the duties and responsibilities of the speakership, having been for two years Lieutenant-Governor and President of the Senate. THE INSPECTION OP TENEMENT ` R OUSES I has been thorough and complete. Every house of this description has been examined, the number of inmates, the means of es cape, the hygiene condition and the capa city of the several departments ascertained and recorded. The results of these labors •are embodied in tables appended to the, re- 1 port of the Sergeant, of the Sanitary Squad, and from an instructive record of the causes of the• rapid- deterioration of the public health within the past few'years.' The population of the city, of New-York is estimated at 900,000 persons, of whom. 404,000 reside in tenement hounes; houses,containing four, families and;upward. .I.fa good many of the chuiches of this' 'city and Brooklyn, they are dispensing with paid singers and choirs. Iu some of these churches the music has heretofore been a very costly matter, greatly exceeding the average of salary paid to. country 'pas tors. The stringency. of the timesis the cause of the present movement. • " B an , THE New-York - c orrespondent of the ner of ths Conenant," `speaks "thus' of -the Presbyterian ehrtiches of th*s city " i t,• . The Presbyterian churches of this city, o f the - Old. and New School Assemblies, number forty-six congregations, of which an equal number belong to each of the tw o bodies._ Among these are three Germa n and 'two colored congregations. As to lo cation, these churches are scattered ove r almost all parts of the city from the Harlem river to Canal Street, which is now the Southern boundary of the Presbyterian Church ; in New-York. Of all the churche s none has so ,effectually. deserted the low er wards of air city as the Old School Pre s _ byterian. They have only three church es South of Union Square, of which the one in Canal Street has hardly an existence ex_ cept in its pronerty and its vexatious liti gations; the Grand Street church joined them a few years since from the Associate Presbyterian Church ; and the Rutge rs Street church would long ago have been i n the fashionable part of the town, but their property cannot be sold. There is also a colored church and a German Mission church within this district in their eon _ nexi on. The New School Presbyterians have seven congregations below Union Square, a n d while some of these have suffered mAr z h from removal of pastors and of wealf, members,' yet several of them show a good degree' of activity and' usefulness. Several of the Presbyterian churches of the city have immense wealth, and manifest great liberality in giving, especially the Old School churches. They are, however, very deficient in personal devotion to the various departments of individual exertion in the evangelization of the masses. In this hn_ portant feature they fall behind the New School brethren, who are generally very active home missionaries. The latter have some advantage in the cooperation of a large band of theological students attending the classes of their seminary in University Place. And in this I may remark that these students, and those of other city sem inaties, have an advantage over Princeton students and others in country seminaries, by their location, necessarily cut off from such opportunities of missionary work as cities afford. A few of the larger Presbyterian church es have built Mission chapels, and employed missionaries to occupy them. This mode of procedure is evidently the one our city re quires, and the churches cannot enter too soon or too heartily upon this work of oc cupying our destitute districts by plain houses of worship, and supporting minister, and other laborers to gather in the perish ing multitudes from the streets and lanes. kionff.rtronnitt , TICE BOARD OF TRADE has published a report against the movement now being made on behalf of New-York to establish a Mint in that city. Their main points are: 1. That the Mint at Philadelphia now has ample capacity readily to coin all that has been offered when the demand for coinage was greatest, and all that is likely to be offered for coinage under any circumstances. that may arise. 2. That it it done as promptly here as it can be done at New-York. 3. That coinage is more cheaply performed in Philadelphia than it can be done elsewhere. Mr. Pollock's Report states that the Mint, in fall force and working regular hours, could produce, in gold and silver, of pieces of , all denominations, $66,875,000 per annum, and that this capacity, vast as it- is, could be greatly extended by coining more of the larger pieces of money, or by working double time and employing a double force, without straining the present admirable machinery, or requiring it to be augmented. This is far beyond any re- Auirements which can be made. To estab lish a Mint in New-York would require a large staff with good. salaries; a heavy ex penditure for land and buildings, and an immense outlay of machinery. THE ANNUAL MEETING of the Phila delphia Sunday School Society, has just been held. The Treasurer reported the receipts during the year to be $695.47, and expenditures'for the same time $592.89; leaving a'balanee in the treasury of $102.- 58. During the past year fifty-seven schools, embracing six hundred and seventy nine teachers, and five thousand nine hun dred and eighty-eight scholars, have been assisted. Of this number forty-three were mission schools, and fourteen connected with feeble churches. HORACE BINNEY, of Philadelphia, who has just written a powerful pamphlet of some fifty-four pages in defence of the President's right to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, is a remarkable specimen of the preservation of vigorous faculties to a ripe old age. He is in his eighty-fourth year, and yet takes an active and deep in terest in all the political questions of the day--as this pamphlet shows. It is one of thn most thorough and vigorous arguments - that have been written upon the subject, and puts the "opinion" of Chief Justice Taney utterly to -the rout. THE WEEK o.i PRAYER' was duly ob served in almost all the Protestant churches of, this city, except the Episcopal; and the exercises at the noon-day prayer-meeting, in Sansom Street, were more than usually interesting. But no revivals are reported in any of our churches. It is hoped that a deeper desire for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit has been awakened in the hearts of professing Christians. For the Presbyterian Banner. Some Incidents in the Battle of Belmont. MESSRS. EDITORS :—h your issue of December 28th, you place the battle of Belmont among the defeats of our arms in this horrible war.* I cannot see how that battle was either a defeat or a failure. Our troops started to destroy the Belmont camp. They were met by the enemy some distance from, the quip*. They drove the enemy befbre thawninto their. camp and beyoni.4 and then destroyed it. 'While they were in the set of destroying .the camp, they were surrounded by the enemy. Thus far they accomplished their purpose, unless they failed in spiking two or three cannon. Novas the enemy,was between them and their boats, they must again fight to reach their ; , boats. This they did, and succeeded in getting to their boats, with considerable loss in killed, wounded and prisoners. But our, troops also took prisoners; and it is believed the enemy's loss was greater than ours. I was in Cairo , and Bird's Point after the battle, and our troops all felt that it, was a victory.. The followiny, are some extracts from a letter of one in that , ,battle, to his friends, which were not written for publication. But they are at your disposal : ~ " Th 9 night ' we went down the river, I ghty Spent ttte first part in prayer to Almi . * 'emir correspondent will look again, he will find that we do not call the battle of Belmont a defeat. Weiveighed our words. We were speal ing of the need of caution when our progress was, -.VPO.Sedtby a powerful foe. The only allu sion f 0 Belmont is in this sentence: "We tried further 'Profiress at Great Bethel, Bull Run, Bair' Bluff, Belniont, and Wilson's Creek; and the re sults are known." At Belmont, as at Wilson's Creek, there was first a brilliant success ; but the "'i lak -Y-. b eil% - yeinforced, our troops were Powered; and retreated. over
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